10 Seemingly Great Films That Unravelled On A Second Viewing

7. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Okay, so Borat was hailed as one of the funniest movies of all time when it first hit theatres, and everybody spent the two weeks afterwards talking about all the hilarious scenes, and how dumb Americans were, and whatever else happened in the movie that made us guffaw so much for 90 minutes. Have you gone back to Borat, though, to check that it's just as funny all these years later? Not advisable: what at first seemed fresh and hilarious now seems a little stale. Though some of the sketches are hilarious, there's a sense of the dated about the flick. What happened? Well, to be entirely honest: Borat's original success can be linked to the fact that everybody first saw it in theatres, surrounded by hundreds - if not thousands - of other people who were laughing like maniacs. So, yes, whilst it's clearly funny, remove the movie from that context and it's not quite so brilliant. Whereas other comedies - like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, for example - seem to get better with every viewing, there's something oddly unappealing about Borat's annoyingly confused political approach. It's more repetitive than clever; more amusing than hilarious.